Dragon Noodle Salad

I bought a new cook book last weekend, Isa Does It, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  It's a vegan cookbook.  I'm vegetarian, not vegan, but I love Isa's recipes and I was very excited when I saw she had a new cookbook out.  I had to buy it.

The first recipe I tried from the book was "Dragon Noodle Salad."  It ended up being super easy and quick, and made 4 servings so we had leftovers.  You cook 8 ounces of rice noodles according to the package directions.  While the noodles cooked, cut the fresh veggies you have on hand and make the dressing.  The recipe used cucumbers, radishes and salad greens.  I made some changes by just using the vegetables I had available.  So bell peppers instead of radishes.

I also didn't feel the need to blend the dressing as the recipe indicated.  I just threw all the dressing ingredients in a measuring cup and whisked until it came together.  It was 1/2 a cup of peanut butter, 2 cloves garlic, 1/3 cup water, 3 tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon agave syrup,1 tablespoon sriracha, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil plus extra salt to taste if needed.

I cut down on the sriracha, probably 1 teaspoon instead of 1 tablespoon, since Mike just likes a touch of heat.  I used honey instead of agave since that's what I had available.  I didn't have  sesame seeds or cilantro for the garnish but it was absolutely delicious even without them!  The only thing I might change next time is cutting down the vinegar to 2 tablespoons instead of 3 since it was a bit tangy for my taste.

 Not exactly like the photo but still tasty :)

I think the whole thing took 15 minutes, start to finish.